Yokohama Rubber to Produce Steel Radial Tires for Trucks and Buses in China

Tokyo, Apr 19, 2006 (JCN) - Yokohama Rubber established Suzhou Yokohama Tire as a wholly owned subsidiary of Yokohama Rubber (China), its wholly owned subsidiary, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, in April.

Capitalized at $27.1 million, Suzhou Yokohama Tire will invest $81.3 million to construct a tire production plant with a maximum annual output capacity of 350,000 units. Operation is slated for October 2007.

Although the first-phase facility will be built on a 74,000m2 site, Suzhou Yokohama Tire has usage rights to 300,000m2 of land nearby as it sees that the Chinese market has large growth potential.

The new plant will become Yokohama Rubber's fourth truck/bus-use steel radial tire plant. The company has similar plants in the US, Thailand and Japan. The company already has a manufacturing base, Hangzhou Yokohama Tire, in China.